Ring of Fire
by LostinStories
Summary: Victoria and her NB army are coming to Forks. The wolves ban together with the Cullens will they all survive? What will happen between Embry and Leah she keeps trying to push him away, will it work?  Part of Eclipse written from the Wolves POV  ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1 Something is coming

_Authors note: I don't own any of the Twilight Characters. We have Stephenie Meyer to thank for bringing them into our lives._

**Chapter 1 – Something is coming**

'Would you get your hands off me Call. Geez,' Leah was fuming now.

'Well, you were about to fall flat on your face, Leah. But fine! Break your nose for all I care.' I let her go and she immediately lost her balance and fell off the branch and onto the ground. I couldn't help but laugh.

'Shut up! Whose stinking idea was it to climb a tree anyways'

'I never told you to climb it,' I jumped down and looked at her. She was pulling small twigs and leaves out of her hair and giving me the evil eye.

'Let's just go back to the rez,' she already turned around and run off, probably to hide before she took her dress off to phase. I didn't bother with that, just stripped my sweats off and bound them around my ankle. I ran and phased midstride, grinning widely. This would absolutely never get old.

I ran fast, back towards the reservation we called home. Home to the Quileute tribe, the wolf tribe. It was only last year we found out that the myths and legends were all true, and that's when we started turning, one by one. Sam was the first, big guy that Sam Uley, huge wolf too. Then Paul and Jared and I was forth, after that others followed as well, Jacob, Quil, Leah and Seth. We had a big pack now, eight wolves in total. The biggest a pack had ever been before this was three wolves. But never before was the area so swamped with leeches.

Yeah, I chuckled as I ran, leeches. Those bloodsucking monsters killed humans and we got to kill them. It was fun, would be more fun if they didn't stink as bad as they did though. But heck, it was a thrill. I wasn't complaining, even though it would be my job for years to come. But the perks! The speed and fast healing, the phasing at will, nice body heat and now I had brothers in the package deal as well.

Yeah, being an only child had never really agreed with me. Ever since I was a child, when I would go home with friends and see their big families, I would get jealous. Of course I loved my mom, but still, just the two of us could get kind off lonely. But now that had changed, wolves were tightly bound to each other, I mean we could read each other's minds. We were brothers in every sense of the word, even sharing genes.

And one sister. I looked at Leah running ahead of me, that was the surprise of the century. The legends spoke only of guys having the gene and turning once leeches occupied the area. Never before had there been a girl.

'Could you shut up!' Leah glared back briefly and snarled at me.

'Yeah Leah, just random thoughts is all.'

'Keep them away from me.'

That was Leah Clearwater for ya, I thought. The only girl in the history of the tribe to phase and boy, were we glad about it. It wasn't that bad that we could hear each others thoughts and worries and had no secrets whatsoever. But now we had to deal with a girl, who worried about her fertility! I rolled my eyes. Leah was worried about her fertility, really worried! Wolves stopped aging as soon as the gene kicked in and so she stopped aging too, and stopped bleeding monthly. All of it stopped, she was frozen in time like us. Although our swimmers actually worked.

'CALL! Quit thinking about me you big pup! Or I'll kick you where it matters and make sure your swimmers won't work anymore!'

I laughed loudly, it sounding more like a bark in my wolf form. At that Leah growled and sped up, widening the distance between us. Yeah, Leah was well, not that friendly lately. It had been only a couple months ago that she had phased for the first time and finally figured out why Sam had broken up with her.

Oh yeah Sam, our Alpha wolf and Leah had been together all through high school, they were tight. But when Sam's gene kicked in, he had phased and as soon as Leah's cousin Emily was visiting, he was hit over the head. Yeah he fell for her, fast too. Apparently it's a wolf thing, 'imprinting'. Like love at first sight- only way, way stronger then that.

Yeah that was the one thing about being a wolf I didn't like. I just didn't like the idea of not being able to choose who you loved. All my brothers couldn't wait to imprint, they thought I was being weird. They saw the love that Sam and Emily shared and it was really nice, they were so in tune with each other, so perfect. I could understand wanting that kind of connection with somebody, but with somebody I picked, not somebody picked for me.

So Leah was pissed about that, she had been pissed ever since Sam broke up with her so suddenly and knowing why didn't help. She was still pissed off. Although I understood that, she could look into his mind now and that couldn't be nice. I mean it drove us all nuts, it was like Emily's face was plastered all over his grey matter and seeing her through his eyes, didn't help neither. Giving us all a little crush on her.

We got to the edge of the reservation and I caught up with Leah, who was already phased back and wearing her dress again. I quickly phased and put on my sweats as I hopped to her.

'For crying out loud, is it necessary to flash me every time you phase. You aren't that pretty you know.'

I just grinned at her and walked up toward Emily and Sam's place, hearing my brothers inside already. I laughed as I walked in, seeing they were all watching '_Die Hard'_ again, like we didn't spend last night watching all three movies.

As we walked in Leah took an apple and stood near the door. I grinned at Emily as I took one of her famous homemade muffins and flopped on the couch next to Jared. As soon as I focused on the TV, Sam shut it off. 'Hey, I just got here!'

He smiled, 'It's a DVD Embry, we'll watch later. Tell us what the two of you found out.'

'Well, the sightseeing leech was right', I started giving the report of our recon mission. 'There have been a lot of different leeches in the area, their scents making obvious paths all eventually leading north. None of them led to the Cullen's place.'

'Most of them were going in circles, like they were trying to confuse us', Leah intervened as she walked toward us. 'But there was one trail that went north in a straight line, so we followed it and found an abandoned cabin. The trail wasn't fresh and nobody was there any more.'

I simply nodded, eating my muffin. 'Yeah, at least eight different scents in total.'

Jacob stood up and stretched, 'I'm going to the Cullen's to tell them what's up.'

He started walking out of the house when Seth jumped up and followed him and Leah rolled her eyes. The rest of us just laughed, everybody knew Seth admired Jacob like a big brother.

'Why don't I make you boy's some popcorn and you can finish the movie?', Emily laughed at the howls she got in response.

I settled on the couch, ready for the movie when Leah walked to the door and disappeared outside. Muttering a 'be right back', I stood up and headed outside after her.

'Hey! Leah! Wait up a second!'

'Call, I had to be in your head all morning, what is it that you could possibly want to say now'

I walked up to her and shook my head.

'I just wanted to apologize for all my thought this morning, I – I had no business pondering over the fact that you're the only female wolf.'

She crossed her arms and her nose wrinkled up, like she smelled something foul.

'Right, you had no business whatsoever! But then again you boys never do. It's not like I want to look inside all of your heads, it's not really a choice now is it. And I have to listen to all the degrading things you think about me! How I must be a freak to have phased as a girl, how I need to get over things with Sam and how you don't want me in the pack. I'm sick and tired of hearing your thoughts! I'm sick and tired of you!'

I couldn't do anything but stare at her after that last part. I mean yeah, Leah isn't the nicest person around. But to come flat out and tell me she's sick and tired of me, that stung.

Leah's face softened up for just a second, but it was over so fast I thought I must have imagined it. And then she turned around and took off towards her house.

What the hell was all that about? My fists clenched and I got pissed instantly, yeah it never took much to set off a young wolf. I took off running, got to the first lines of trees and phased right out of my shorts, cursing the fact that I hadn't taken a second to take them off. I ran, not that I hadn't been going at it all morning already, but now I needed the run, to shake off the feeling Leah had left in my gut. _Christ!_ I thought, _you know she isn't nice, why is this bothering you so much?_

'_Embry, man that you?' _

'_Hey Seth. Yeah, it's me, sorry, needed the run'_

I could sense that Seth wanted to know the hows and whys and I made a habit of not trying to hide anything from my brothers, so I re-lived the last scene with Leah. Seth cringed, he knew his sister was still heartbroken and he was having a hard time dealing with her attitude as well. He felt responsible, he was always apologizing for everything she did.

'_Embry, man I'm ….' _

'_Don't even think about apologizing,'_ I quickly threw it at him.

'_Naw, I won't. I know how you can't stand that but still, she had no right to lash out like she did'_

I laughed in my head, _'Well, that's Leah isn't it' _

We were quiet for a while and I changed directions to run toward Seth.

'_Hey, where is Jake btw?' _

'_He phased back, talking to the Cullen's in their backyard'_

Seth showed me what he was looking at and again I thought this mind-sharing thing was so cool. I could see Jake standing in the backyard of the huge white house and he was talking to the Cullen's, Bella was there too. I could see it all as clear as if I were to stand there myself, I could hear them talking too, through Seth. _Wicked_, I grinned as I ran faster towards them, still wanting to be there for…well just in case. They were still a bunch of leeches after all.

'_Embry I don't wanna pry, but why are you still being so nice to Leah?' _

That was Seth for ya, always asking questions that I had no idea how answer. I mean, I know I wanted to be nice to Leah because she was the only girl, I figured it must be hard on her. And since she really didn't have any friends in the pack, except her brother, who I can imagine, you can't tell everything to, I wanted to be her friend. I wanted to be the one she came to and talked to and…what the hell was I thinking? Every shot I gave at being friendly, being her friend, being nice…she just shot me down. She gave most of the pack members a rest, except Sam. She was always lashing out at Sam.

'_And she's always lashing out at you too,'_ Seth interjected

I nodded, only realizing that now.

'_But I'm the only one besides you that tries to be nice to her, she has nothing to gain by lashing out at the others. They ignore her already, maybe that's just what she wants me to do. To ignore her' _

I contemplated the thought for a minute before shrugging it off. I ran up to Seth and hit him happily on the head with one of my paws.

'_Hey pup!' _

'_Shut up!' _

I laughed a barking laugh and suddenly saw everybody in the clearing looking at me. Jake laughed and waved us over, so we both walked out into the clearing still in wolf form. There was no way all three of us were phasing back and being vulnerable, we didn't trust the leeches that much.

Jake grinned at us

'Guess what?' and he pointed to the little leech with the dark hair. 'They say just about three more weeks and we get to see some action.'

As Seth and I let out a happy howl and Jake laughed while the faces of the leeches turned sour.


	2. Chapter 2  We are prepared

_Authors note: I don't own any of the Twilight Characters. We have Stephenie Meyer to thank for bringing them into our lives._

**Chapter 2 – We are prepared **

Jake and I ran back to Sam's while Seth went off to tell Leah what was about to happen. When we got there the credits were just rolling and the guys were getting up off the couch, still applauding the movie.

Jake and I walked in and he gave everybody the lowdown, letting them know it would be about three more weeks. I was looking around the house for another pair of sweats; spares Emily kept, you had to love that woman. Sam decided to have a pack meeting later that evening and that everybody should crash for a couple of hours. I was about to walk out when Sam called my name.

'Hey, Embry stick around would you'

I nodded and walked to the kitchen, figuring there might be some food left- hopefully. When the room was cleared out and everybody had gone home to crash, Sam and Jake walked into the kitchen.

I knew Sam liked to involve Jake in plans and strategies for the pack, probably because he was the rightful Alpha and Jake was just a hell of a strategist.

'Come sit, Embry. We've got a plan we want to talk about.'

I took a seat at the table and stared at both of them.

'When I went to the Cullen's this afternoon, Alice told me about some stuff she saw happening and that soldier boy of hers, Jasper was totally excited about it.'

'Alice is the little future-telling one, right?' I asked Jake.

'Yeah, she just can't see wolves.'

All three of us grinned, we'd already known this for a year now, but it never got old. It was good to know we had an advantage against the leeches if things ever turned ugly and they couldn't keep their fangs in their mouths.

'But she can see where the newborn army disappears,' Jake grinned at us both, Sam nodding happily. I must have looked as confused as I felt, cause Jake explained.

'When they enter our area, we will be able to separate them with our scent trails. If all the Cullen's go straight to the clearing then they will be tempted to follow that. Alice can see half of the newborn army disappearing at that point, that's when they run into us!'

I grinned and Jake went on.

'If we cross the Cullen's scent trail right before it enters the clearing, well let's just say they don't know about us. They don't even know we exist. So Alice says that a part of them will follow our trail, because we smell like a threat and they will want to eliminate that.'

I could see the brilliant plan forming in my mind, like a movie being played. We would just have to run across the path the Cullen's would lay out and wait for the leeches to come get us. I grinned broadly, this was going to be good.

I nodded.

'Sounds like a real right plan, we'd just have to wait for them to come find us and we can isolate them from the other group. As long as we don't let them get away and alert the others we can probably take 'm out easy and go help the leeches, uhm, Cullen's too,'

Sam winked at Jake

'Yes, that's why we wanted you in on this Embry. I will tell the rest of the pack tonight but I need another wing man.'

I looked at Sam, I felt a huge solid question mark forming, just floating there above my head.

'Why, besides Jake, you got Paul as your wingman'

'You're level-headed Embry, we can't bring Paul, or Jared for that matter, in as wingmen. They are way too hot headed, they won't think while they are killing the leeches, they will just be having fun.'

Well I couldn't argue with that, I'd been with the pack last summer when we took out the other leech. There had been a noticeable difference between Paul, Jared and Sam, Jake and I. Our thoughts had been coherent, coordinated and planned, we looked at the bigger picture. As soon as Jared or Paul got their teeth on the leech, their minds went pretty much blank except for, 'kill, kill the damn leech; rip, rip him apart.'

I laughed and the other guys joined in, probably thinking about the same thing I was. I looked at them both and felt a jolt of happiness shooting through me. The bad thing with Leah this morning was forgotten, these were my brothers. This was family! We were even thinking the same thing at the same moment when we weren't phased.

'So Emb, you cool with this? Doing some strategizing with us?'

I looked at Jake and grinned widely.

'Did anybody ever give up a promotion?'

We started planning after that, drawing a map of the meadow and sketching down all the information Alice had given us. The newborns would be coming from the north, the Cullen's would come in a wide circle entering the meadow from the north as well, so we were sure that the newborns would pick up their scents. I had the best time, they guys wanted my input on things and they listened to what I had to say.

We were just deciding on the last things when Emily came in. She smiled as she came up behind Sam, covering his eyes with her hands, she whispered; 'Guess who?'

Instead of answering her, Sam just pulled softly on her arms, making her lean onto his back, then he looked sideways at her and kissed her passionately, making her blush a bright red. When they finally broke free she smacked the back of his head lightly.

'Not in front of your brothers,' they both laughed as Jake and I faked gagging noises.

Sam pulled her into his lap and he just held her there, telling her all about what was coming and what we were doing, asking her input on things. I couldn't help but stare at them, they worked so well together. She was giving him advice and he was actually taking it in and writing a lot of it down.

I still didn't like the idea of an imprint, the fact that you couldn't chose who you were supposed to love. I mean what if you already knew the girl that you wanted and you just hadn't imprinted on her? Would that mean she really wasn't the right one, or did that just mean she didn't have the best genes? There were so many theories about imprinting and nobody knew for sure what was going on.

Naw- even though Sam and Emily were great together, the love, the devotion, heck even I would almost get jealous. Jake was staring at them as well, he was the only one of my brothers who understood why I didn't want to imprint on anybody. But then again, Jake had been in love with the same girl since he was about four years old. He was just starting to realize it. And she could never be his.

I pictured Bella; she had been there this afternoon, standing with an arm wrapped around one of those leeches, Edward I believe. And she looked to be really in love with him, holding him tight, looking up at him all mushily. I didn't know about him though, he was to involved in the conversation I think, or maybe he loved her, but wasn't _in love_ with her. I felt bad for Jake, in spite of Edwards feelings towards Bella. Seeing the girl you love, with another like that couldn't be nice. Especially not if the other was a leech!

I was about to excuse myself when Emily spoke up.

'We should have a party, before all this happens'

Well, if there is one way to get a wolf's attention, its mentioning a party. Combined with the word food it worked even better.

'With a lot of food of course', she went on, laughing a little.

We started banging our fists on the table to show our approval and excitement of the plan.


	3. Chapter 3 Party

_Authors note: I don't own any of the Twilight Characters. We have Stephenie Meyer to thank for bringing them into our lives._

**Chapter 3 – Party **

A week later I rolled out of bed in the early afternoon, Seth, Quil and I had been patrolling the entire night. A long boring night.

I got downstairs and noticed a note from my mom on the counter.

'_I let you sleep, you looked like you needed it. We need to talk about this. I'm going to Emily's to help set up for the party, come help when you've had breakfast' _

Right, I grinned. The party was today! Excellent.

I chomped down a sandwich and a glass of milk before heading out to Emily's. It was still late summer and the weather was great ,but there would be people there today that didn't know our little wolfy secret, so we had to act like regular kids. So I put on a pair of flip flops and even a t-shirt, mom would be so happy.

When I got there Paul and Sam were dragging the tables and chairs outside onto the yard. Sue, Emily and mom were putting on the cloths and plates and stuff. I was just walking up to the house to help when Jake, Quil and Seth came sprinting out.

'Hey Emb you're here!' Quil grinned

'Yeah brother, you can help lugging the tables around, were going to go to the store,'

Jacob wiggled his eyebrows. I had a hunch they weren't just going to get more food.

They bolted to Jake's Rabbit and drove off, I laughed and walked inside.

Sam and Jared were just grabbing the last two tables and took them into the yard, so I picked up the sound system and took it outside and put it on a table. As I started to connect the electricity mom came over and she didn't look to happy.

'Embry,' I could see she was trying to smile and I kissed her on the cheek.

'Hey mom'

'Embry. I know you went out again last night. You know how I feel about that. We have been having this fight for over a year now.'

She sighed and I could see she was struggling. 'And you look so tired lately, that's the only reason I let you stay in bed this morning. Embry…Did I – did I do something wrong, for you to act this way?'

As my face contorted to shock and horror in response to her thoughts, she looked relieved, like she had been wanting to ask that question for quite some time. Like she finally asked the question she'd been wanting to.

'Mom! Of course not! I told you, I'm not out drinking, doing drugs or having sex,' my voice dropped to a whisper at that. 'And I'm not going out to punish you or something, if you think that. I don't know why you would think that. You're a great mom and I love you!'

'One of these days I'm really not going to tolerate this anymore Embry. There is no reason for a 17 year old to go out almost every night!'

She looked as stubborn as I did and I knew we weren't getting anywhere. I could see Sam and Emily talking to each other, throwing me sad looks. I looked straight at Sam, frowned and quickly shook my head. We talked about this before – keeping the secret was more important.

'Lily, could you help inside with the salads please? Oh, sorry I'm interrupting.' Emily looked genuinely sorry as she walked toward us.

'No, Emily. We were just done, I'll help'

Mom and Emily walked inside the house and as determined as I was not to show how much the talk had affected me, I still felt like I needed a minute. So I made sure all the electricity was hooked up and put a hand on a speaker, standing there for a second just breathing.

I saw Sam getting his huge barbeque out of the garage and went to help, picking up a couple of packs of charcoal. I walked to the barbeque and started setting things up with Sam.

'Embry man, you know the offer to tell her still stands'

I sighed and nodded, 'I know Sam, thanks'

'I know you feel protecting the secret is more important but there are so many people involved already, probably because we have such a big pack. One more wouldn't matter'

'No Sam, it's just the wolves, imprints and the tribe elders that know'

I looked at him with probably the same stubborn expression my mom had given me five minutes ago and he nodded. We went back to work on the barbeque until it was all set up. We just needed to wait for it to warm up completely.

'I won't let this drive you insane though, or worse,' Sam gave me the stern Alpha look to show he meant it.

At that point Jake, Seth and Quil returned and howled from the car for some help. Everybody laughed at them and grateful for the distraction, I ran to the car. When I grabbed a couple of bags, Jake's heavy palm came down on my shoulder.

'Emb, those go into the garage behind the bikes. You get me?' He ginned and winked at me.

I laughed and walked to the garage with the bags. After I hid them in the back of the garage, I peeked inside, seeing twenty bottles of wine and some scotch and tequila. I shook my head grinning and walked out of the garage, seeing a couple of crates of beer stacked against the house

This was going to be a party all right. Between the fight with my mom and the still sour aftertaste Leah left in my gut yesterday- I needed a party .

Slowly, one by one people started to arrive. Jake left to get Billy and when he got back, Bella and Charlie got there. Jared's imprintee, Kim, had picked up little Claire Young on her way to the party and as soon as Claire saw Quil she took off as fast as those little legs could carry her. Quil beamed and caught the two year old in his arms. Weird I thought, also imprinted but so different than Sam was with Emily. Although of course Quil couldn't yet and he didn't want to. He loved his Claire so much that he just wanted to be her friend, her big brother and to protect her from anything. It was clear though that he hoped they one day would be like Emily and Sam.

Rachel and Leah arrived together. Rachel was Jacob's sister and when she had come to visit at the beginning of summer, she had run into Paul. Bada-bing bada-boom! Imprint central.

He captured her in his arms as she walked to him and his face melted. He planted little kisses all over her face. Geez- all these imprints were enough to have my stomach doing backflips. I needed some food.

I couldn't help but look at Leah; if _I_ was having a hard time with all these imprints, she must definitely have a hard time. She had grabbed a beer and sat down with Seth. At these parties, everybody, even us underage wolves were allowed a few beers. Not too many and not if you couldn't handle it, and nothing but beer. Even Charlie pretended he didn't see anything, just because Sam and Billy had explained it was a 'special occasion'. And heck, none of us looked underage.

But tonight I would stay sober, just having some sodas. I could feel my mom's eyes on me and I had just told her I didn't sneak out at night to drink. So I would prove that at every opportunity.

When my food was done I went and sat down with Jared, Kim, Quil, Claire and Bella. We talked for a while before I noticed Jake was nowhere to be seen, I asked Bella where he had gone off too.

She laughed slightly, 'You'll see.'

I looked around and saw everybody enjoying themselves, I really loved my extended family. It was good to see everybody having a good time, especially knowing what was about to happen in a week or two.

Jake suddenly reappeared and jumped on a chair, almost falling off in the same motion.

Everybody laughed as he raised his hands and asked attention, 'Friends! Family!'

We all quietened down and looked at him.

'I had a blast and I'm really glad we could do this…just for the fun of it!'

People, mainly wolves, started banging their fists on the tables in agreement.

'But all good things must come to an end! But not yet!' He laughed and almost fell again.

'I would like my fellow 'teenagers,' he air-quoted the word with his fingers and looked at the pack members.

'And their special someones to come with me, the time has come to ditch the old folks!'

He jumped down, took Bella's hand and took off. Rachel, Paul, Kim, Jared and Seth followed quickly. Rachel came back and dragged a reluctant Leah with her.

I waited for Quil, who had a sleeping Claire in his arms. I watched him hand her to Emily as Sam looked sternly at me.

'Embry, make sure nothing crazy goes down'

I nodded and figured that Sam and Emily would be staying here. Quil kissed Claire on the top of her head and we walked off.

'Come on man, Jake and me set everything up on First Beach. The part you can't see from the road.' He grinned widely and we both took out in a jog towards the beach.

I was determined to have a good night.

When we got to the beach, they were all sitting on logs surrounding a campfire. There was a seat left between Jake and Leah and one between Kim and Bella, and Quil quickly sat down between the girls, giving me a huge grin.

Strangely, a part of me was happy to sit next to Leah, although we hadn't talked since the fight a week ago.

Jake passed beers around and I happily took one now I was away from the gaze of my mother. Not that I needed to get drunk, just wanting that small buzz.

'Ok. Scary stories are in order now, before we all get completely wasted. I'll start'

Jake started telling the old American classic _'Bloody Mary'_. He paused at the right times, did all the voices and even jumped up at the scary bits. I could see Rachel and Kim tug the arms of Paul and Jared tightly around them. The guys looked smug.

Halfway through the story I stole a glance at Leah and saw her twirling her drink, staring into the fire. I saw three empty beer bottles lying in the sand at her feet, shaking my head knowing she already had a couple back at the house. Seth caught my eye and he looked at Leah, his eyes showing worry in them.

As Jared was next, he started to tell the story of _'Bluebeard'_. Rachel started to pass marshmallows around. While people started putting their mallows on twigs and roasting them, Quil got up and headed for the water. I was about to make a crack at him for needing to cool off from sitting in between Bella and Kim, but he had already returned with wine and a bottle of tequila.

He grinned, 'We put them in the sand under the water, to keep em nice and cool'

They were passed around and I shook my head, sticking with the beer for now. There weren't a lot of stories being told after that, and I laughed. Everybody was talking, cracking jokes and getting slightly more drunk. Slowly the subject moved to the upcoming fight and everybody was excited about it, even Leah smiled. Only the faces of Bella, Kim and Rachel turned sour, not liking the fact that we were so excited about it.

When I got up and walked to the water to get a bottle of wine, Seth followed me.

'Embry, look, it's like five to midnight and I gotta get home. Mom still says I'm fifteen and need to be home in time. But Leah won't come with me. Can you keep an eye out on her? Make sure she comes home safe?'

I looked at Seth and quietly damned the huge, honest eyes the kid had.

'Of course man, go make your mom happy.' I nodded

I pushed back the thoughts that surfaced about my mom. Seth grinned and thanked me, I pushed him back up the beach and he took off at a jog.

I sat down again, wondering what I had done to become freaking Captain America. What made me so responsible that people keep asking me to look out for the others? UGH – I took a big swig from the bottle. They never thought to ask Paul.

_**Please review - I always try to improve but can't do that without reviews. Thank you so much**_


	4. Chapter 4 Leah Clearwater

_Authors note: I don't own any of the Twilight Characters. We have Stephenie Meyer to thank for bringing them into our lives._

**Chapter 4 - Leah Clearwater**

The party was winding down slowly, Rachel and Paul had disappeared a while ago and Jake was getting up now, carrying a sleeping Bella to his car.

I was starting to get pretty buzzed by that point, I guessed I didn't care anymore and just started thinking. Although I wasn't the one who was worst off, Quil was laying with his back on the sand, his legs over the log he was sitting on a minute ago. He was snoring.

Leah was beside me, swaying until I understood that she was trying to get up. She , well you couldn't really call it walking anymore, waddled to the water, pulling another bottle out of the sea.

I wanted to say something about it but she didn't come back to the fire, walking instead in the direction of the forest. My eyes followed her, wondering if I should go get her.

'Go after her'

Jared was sitting, still surprisingly sober, with a sleeping Kim in his arms. I looked at him, blinking a couple of times to try and collect my thoughts.

'Really Emb. You know you want to go get her, and besides she's way to drunk. She shouldn't be out there alone with this leech threat'

I shook my head, 'No man, she doesn't want me'

'When did that ever stop you?'

I looked at him confused

'Embry, you've been head of heels in love with that girl for years now, we all know it. Well everybody knows except you and Leah'

He laughed slightly, looking down at Kim to make sure he didn't wake her up.

'You're both equally stubborn, only you use it better. Besides I'm pretty sure she likes you too'

Wow- I sat up straight, what had he just said?

'Yeah, don't look so surprised. Come on, she ignores all of us except you'

'No Jared, that's just 'cause I'm the only one who still tries to be nice to her'

He started shaking his head and took a deep breath before he went on.

'Yeah and she knows that, she knows that if she ignored you too, you'd probably stop trying to be nice. She just doesn't want to ignore you'

'You just think that, you don't know'

'Yeah I do, I phased once while she was thinking about it. She just threatened to cut of my tail if I ever told anybody'

A voice came from behind a log

'He's right you know,' Quil's head popped up and he climbed back on the log.

'You should go get her man!'

I drained the last off the wine out of the bottle and tossed it onto the sand, nodding to the guys as I got up and walked into the forest. I figured I had nothing to lose and they were probably right, I did like her, more than I probably should.

Walking past the first couple of tree's, I could follow Leah's scent easily. Tracking her scent helped sober me up and I chuckled at the fact that I had the best nose of the pack. I walked further.

It wasn't long before her scent got stronger and I smiled at the jasmine, lavender and mossy smell. She was sitting with her back against a tree.

'Come to babysit me Call?'

She slurred just a little as she talked, which was good. It meant she could still walk home.

'No Leah, you know you really shouldn't be out here alone. Not with the vampire threat'

She waved her hand as if to dismiss my comment.

'And you've come to protect me now have you? The big, bad, strong Embry Call – super wolf, coming to the rescue?'

She got up, holding the tree for support and looking at me defiantly. My anger spiked, but the way she looked at me from under her lashes, damn I wanted Leah Clearwater. As her eyes travelled over me I knew I wanted her so badly, so I took a step toward her.

'Don't try to piss me off Leah, it won't work'

She giggled, 'But it is working Call, I can see how pissed you are,' she licked her lips. 'But you're not just pissed are you?'

She threw the empty bottle away and grabbed another one that was waiting for her at the foot of the tree. I walked to her and took the bottle from her hands.

'No, not another one Leah. You've had enough already'

She tried to struggle and hold on to the bottle but giggled and let me take it, running her hand from the bottle over my arm, resting it on my shoulder.

'Embry,' she purred my name at me, stepping into my body, brushing her breasts over my chest. I got hard instantly, internally hitting myself over the head for not realizing I liked her a long time ago. It took all my strength to shake my head and puss her off me.

'No Leah, you don't want to do this. You're drunk'

She giggled and looked up at me, an sulty expression on her face.

"Not drunk enough to know that I want you." She said, her expression turning serious. I groaned. I really didn't want to hear that right now.

I started to pace in front of her, fuck this was weird. Leah giggling, Leah telling me she wants me. My hands moved frantically through my hair, I could feel the response my body had. Damn I wanted her. Badly!

'Come on Embry. Come on you big bad wolf.' Her smiles was the one I loved so much, the one she gave me when she was challenging me to a run. Only she wasn't talking about running now.

That was the moment my body took over my brain. I walked to her, grabbed her hips and pushed her against the tree. I growled, 'fuck you Leah.' She simply smiled and nodded, putting her hands on my ass, drawing me further in.

My mouth came crashing down on hers and our tongues met, we both groaned at the sensation, like it was something we both wanted for a very long time. My hands had torn the shirt from her body before I even knew it. My mouth moving over her jaw and down her neck, biting where the soft skin of her neck met her shoulder. I smiled when she gasped and dug her nails into my back.

My mouth moved over her collarbone and down to her breasts. I cup them softly with my hands as my tongue draws circles around one nipple. Slowly sucking it in my mouth grazing my teeth over it and I heard Leah moan.

I growled with her nipple still firmly between my lips as her hands stroked my arms again, ran up my back over you're my shoulders, my pecks and down over my stomach.

She made fast work of my shorts. Unbuttoning them and pushing them quickly down my hips. I took a step back to step out of them, hearing a small moans as I did so, looking at Leah while she was staring at me. Licking her lips.

'Damn Call'

I couldn't help but grin. 'Tits for tats Lee. Lose the shorts.'

She looked at me and knew I challenged her, so she took her shorts off without any hesitation. We stared at each other for a second, just grinning like two idiots. Before we both took a step forward at the same time and our bodies crashed together.

This time she pushed me down on the forest ground and straddled my lap. I didn't stop her.


	5. Chapter 5 Leech Training

**Chapter 5 – Leech training **

I woke up the next morning with the sun shining in my eyes. I tried to get away from it but couldn't, slowly I opened them. _Where was I?_ The ground beneath me was so hard, I rolled over and got poked hard by a sick. _What the hell_.

_My head was hurting like a maniac, why?_ It rushed back to me, the barbeque, the bonfire on the beach. _Scary stories_. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. _Bonfire and booze_.

I sat up straight, hitting my head hard against a low branch and falling back down. _LEAH._

I groaned, putting my head in my hands. _Oh god, Leah. Leah and me_. Everything came rushing back to me_, I had sex with Leah Clearwater, more than once_.

I looked around suddenly realising that she wasn't here. _Damnit, she must have woken up earlier and split. Shit she must have been scared or embarrassed or God knows what and just left. _

I got up and grabbed my shorts, putting them on as I jogged back home. I tried not to relive what happened last night, but the more I tried not to think about, the more it came rushing back. I could see it all again, Leah biting her lip, Leah throwing her head back in ecstasy, Leah running her nails over my chest.

I tried the shake the images out of my head as I walked into the house, sneaking through the backdoor and tip toeing to the stairs. Thinking I'll climb into bed and head back down when mom got up, pretending I was here all night.

'Good morning Embry'

I yelled and fell back down the stairs, landing hard on my back, hitting my already throbbing head.

I rubbed my head as I got back up and walked into the kitchen. _Damn didn't need that. She caught me this time._

'Morning Mom'

She was smiling, wow didn't expect that. I expected another lecture and some yelling.

'Morning sweetie, some coffee?'

I nodded and she got a second cup, poured and handed the coffee to me as I hopped up on the breakfast counter.

'Did you have fun last night?'

I nodded as I sipped the burning hot coffee.

'Yeah we had a campfire and ghost stories, it was all good'

She smiled and put her cup down. _Uh oh _I thought, here it comes.

'Embry, I need your help today to clean out the guest bedroom'

Okay, not at all what I expected. Although that could be considered punishment, the guest bedroom was filled with old art pieces from mom, boxes and all kinds of junk.

'Uhm, sure why?'

'Your cousin Serena is coming to stay with us for a while'

'Serena? Aunt Merel and Uncle Jack's Serena from New Mexico?'

Mom nodded.

'She's still has on her summer holiday so her parents thought a change of scenery might be nice.'

'So, she comes to La Push.' I laughed at the thought of this being a nice change of scenery.

Mom ruffled my hair, 'I'm sure you will help her have fun here, help her meet people.'

She set her cup down and grabbed her purse, 'now, I have to go to the store but only for a couple of hours. I'm sure you will have half of the bedroom cleared out by that time'

She laughed when she left for work, I grabbed my coffee and sat down at the coffee table. _My head!_ I rested my head on the table._ Just a couple minutes, just close my eyes for a couple of minutes._

My phone rang and I lifted my head from the table, rubbing the cheek I was laying on. _Ugh, where was the stupid ringing coming from?_ Getting up I walked to the living room and found my phone in between the cushions.

'_Leech training in three hours – Jake' _

I grinning my headache forgotten, it was a lot of fun to see those leeches fight each other, even if it was just training. Especially that big one, Emmett. He got pissed off easily and really got into it.

_Shit!_ Three hours, I looked at the clock. _Shit! Two PM already! Mom would be home soon. _I ran to the spare bedroom and randomly started grabbing boxes, running to the garage and piling them up. I did the same with half of the paintings there. I thanked my wolf speed when mom walked in and saw me carrying them.

'Embry!' She sounded surprised, her eyes grew wider when she saw the pile of boxes in the garage and the artwork next to it. 'Oh I'm so happy! You've already done so much'

I shrugged and made it seem like it was no big deal. She put her purse down and pulled her hair up and for the next few hours we worked together. We actually had a good time, it was the first time in a while it was just me and my mom. We talked about the party, gossiped about the people on the rez and we laughed at lot at all the stuff we found. When we finally put the last of the boxes in the garage we stood in the empty guest room.

'That went fast, I can't believe it'

'When is she coming exactly?'

'Next week, so all we need to do is a bit of cleaning and we shall be fine. Now what shall we have for dinner?' She turned to me with a big smile.

'Oh mom! Jake asked me to come over! I would love to have dinner with you but he said it was important.' I put on a pleading face; I needed to go to the training session.

She kissed my cheek. 'Sure, go to your friends, I'm happy we had such a fun afternoon together.'

'It _was_ fun!'

I smiled and hugged her, before yelling a 'see you tonight' and running out the door. I reached the first tree line and took off my shorts, binding them around my ankle as I phased. I shook my head and stretched my paws. I loved my wolf form, the freedom is amazing. I quickly ran and rendezvous with the pack.

'_Sorry guys' _

'_Don't worry'_ Sam said _'Quil and Collin are still on their way as well'_

I sat down with the rest of them as we waited, as soon as everybody was there we went to the clearing in the forest where we would meet the Cullens. This was the first training, the Cullens said we'd probably have a couple more.

'_Guys, be careful. Just to be safe' _

We nodded and slowed to a walk as we entered the clearing. The Cullens where there already, lined up facing us. They exchanged looks and we could here them mutter.

'Did you ever see anything like it?'

A chuckle went through the pack mind, not even Bella who had been to the bonfire knew the full extent of the pack.

'Fascinating'

The mind-reading leech of course, he was looking into the pack mind.

_I'm glad were amusing him_; somebody thought before Sam gave an order to stop. He didn't have to because as soon as he spoke up the head leech, the doctor, took a step forward. He did it slowly like we were to tightly wound springs that could snap at any moment.

'Welcome'

Sam nodded and focussed on Edward; _Tell him thank you._

Sam spoke to the leech again;_ We will watch and listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self-control_

_Hell yeah!_

_They stink bad!_

_Can't we practice on them?_

_Guys…_ Sam warned us to shut up and just listen

'That is more than enough.' The doctor leech answered. 'My son Jasper has experience in this area. He will teach us how they fight, how they are to be defeated. I'm sure you can apply this to your own hunting style.'

_They are different from you? _

'They are different from you?'

It was weird to hear the question move through the pack mind and come out of Edward's mouth at the same time. Brady shook his head in confusion, he phased just two days before and everything was still confusing. We felt bad for the guy.

'They are all very new – only months old into this life. Children, in a way. They will have no skill or strategy, only brute strength. Tonight their numbers stand at twenty. Ten for us, ten for you - it shouldn't be difficult. The numbers may go down. The new ones fight amongst themselves.'

We laughed, _stupid leeches,_ we thought.

_We are willing to take more than our share, if necessary_

'We are willing to take more then our share, if necessary'

Even the leech sounded a little amused now.

'We'll see how it plays out.'

The doctor leech stepped back and we sat down, ready to watch the leeches train.

The 'son' stepped forward, he wasn't tall but looked determined.

'Carlisle is right.' He only spoke to the rest of the leeches, he ignored us.

'They'll fight like children. The two most important things you'll need to remember are, first, don't let them get their arms around you and, second, don't go for the obvious kill. That's all they'll be prepared for. As long as you come at them from the side and keep moving, they'll be to confused too respond effectively. Emmett?'

The biggest one, Emmett apparently, stepped out of the line. He was smiling like he was about to enjoy this as much as we were. He was anticipating the fight like us. We approved.

When he and the blond one started to fight, a rumble went through the pack mind and we watched intently. As the blond one avoided the big one and when he won, the big one cussed and called out; 'Again.'

A soft laughter escaped the pack, we could approve of him wanting a rematch. The little pixie girl stepped up next.

Somebody grumbled when she just evaded all the moves made by the blond one, Edward looking smug as he heard the surprise in some of our thoughts.

_She can't see us, so she can't anticipate our moves_

The pack rumbled in agreement and satisfaction remembering that fact.

The night moved on and we watched the leeches going up against one an other for a long while. We analysed their strength, their speed.

_The Newborns are going to be stronger_

_We need to remember that_

The pack was strategising, we had been phased for hours now, individual thoughts were there but they were more like white noise. If one thought something about the upcoming battle the others repeated that statement, we were one.

We saw Edward watch us intently, like he was enjoying this opportunity to look into the pack mind. Like he found it fascinating. We didn't like it, having an outsider in our head.

Finally the blond leech turned to us, he didn't look comfortable and we smiled at that. He shouldn't be comfortable near us.

'We'll be doing this tomorrow. Please feel welcome to observe again'

_Yes, we'll be here_

'Yes, we'll be here'

Edward translated again and Sam nodded to the leeches.

'The pack thinks it would be helpful to be familiar with each of our scents – so they don't make mistakes later. If we could hold very still, it will make it easier for them'

'Certainly,' Doc. Leech answered, 'Whatever you need'

_Stay here, we can see through my eyes, we can smell through my nose _

The pack stood up and Sam stepped forward, we didn't stay. We didn't move with him either but we couldn't stand all the way back. Sam approached the head leech and we all cringed when he smelled him. He walked past all the leeches and we took in the scents.

Sam nodded at the Cullens when we got all the scents, we couldn't wait to get out of there. Our noses hurt.

When we ran back to La Push, Sam decided it was useful but that tomorrow night not everybody would have to go. Jake immediately offered and Quil and I would go to back him up.


	6. Chapter 6 Family and Friends

**Chapter 6 – Family and Friends**

The next two weeks were quiet, we observed the Cullens train a couple more times, and we worked out the details of our plan and spent a lot of time together. It was Friday now, and they would be coming tomorrow, late in the afternoon. The pack was getting nervous.

Mom wasn't too happy with me neither, after that fun afternoon we had cleaning out the spare bedroom Sam had upped patrols. Which made sense of course, but all mom saw was me sneaking out even more.

I came home Friday afternoon, Jake had just gone off with Bella, they were taking her up the mountains, far away from the fight. I rubbed my eyes, hadn't had much sleep in the last two weeks and I really needed a couple of hours.

'Embry!'

I walked in the living room and saw mom sitting there with a girl, I tilted my head. She looked familiar, dark brown hair and copper skin, huge amber eyes though and she looked about sixteen.

'Embry!' She yelled and jumped up from the couch and flung her arms around my neck.

'Uhm' I hugged her back slightly and look confusedly at mom who was laughing.

'Ah you don't remember your little cousin?' She stepped back and smiled at me

'Serena? Well shit, I haven't seen you since we were like seven or something'

'Embry, language!'

I grinned at her and Serena laughed. I looked again at her, she seemed cool. Her clothes were all over the place though, she was wearing red pants, black boots and a bright green and yellow shirt. Apparently she had dyed her hair as well, in between the dark brown there were bright red strands.

'I thought we could all go out to dinner tonight in Forks and go shopping in Seattle tomorrow.'

I looked at mom, this was such bad timing, tonight was the last strategy meeting, tomorrow well…..how knew what would happen.

'Oh fun!'

Oh great Serena wanted to go out.

'Mom… I – I can't! I told you I would hang with the guys all weekend!'

Her face set tight, she gave me a stern look. 'You always hang with your friends, Embry. Your cousin just arrived and we are going to make her feel welcome.'

'I can't. It's an important weekend!'

I was growing desperate; this would not go over well with mom. I could see that greeting Serena properly was important for her. And I was really not helping.

'What is so important then?'

She crossed her arms waiting for an answer, I opened and closed my mouth a couple times but nothing came out.

'MOM!'

'No Embry, not this time. This is a family weekend.'

'I can't! Mom, I wouldn't make a big deal out of this if it wasn't…please'

I pleaded now, I couldn't abandon my pack, but this was hurting mom and Serena. I could see my cousin looking back and forth between us, not understanding what was going on. And I couldn't tell. Not now, not a day before the biggest fight we'd ever seen.

'Mom,…please let me stay home. Don't make me go.'

'No Embry, for once you will put your family before your friends.'

I pulled out my cell phone and sighed, dialling quickly.

'Yo Quil, I'm coming over, I can crash at your place right…Yeah man thanks.'

I hung up the phone and saw mom was at the brink of tears.

'I'm sorry but this is important.'

I looked one more time from Serena to mom and back.

'Sorry'

I turned around and walked out of the house, I started running. When I got to Quil's I busted through the door making little Claire scream and Quil jump up. I paced through the living room. Quil quickly picked Claire up and told her not to be scared, apparently they were just watching a scary part in the latest Disney movie.

'Hush princess, it's just Embry. He's sorry he scared you.'

Quil gave me a menacing look that made me stand still and look at them.

'Yes, Claire. I'm sorry.'

Claire held out her little arms for me so I went over and gave her a hug.

'Embwy s'okay. Embwy sad?'

I nodded and got a kiss on the cheek from little Claire, I smiled and handed her back to Quil. He sat her on the couch, kissed the top of her head and played the movie again.

'We will be right back, okay princess.'

She nodded and smiled up at him like he was the most amazing person in the world. At that moment I almost yearned for an imprint, for that level of love and devotion.

Quil pushed me out the door and we walked onto the front lawn where I started pacing again.

'Bro, what happened?'

'Big fight with my mom man.'

I looked at him. His parents knew all about the pack and the wolf stuff, the first time Quil phased was right where he was standing now. On the front porch after school. I had seen it happen, he went home sick that day, running a fever. So I came over but he wouldn't let me in the house, he had been so pissed off because I left him and Jake. I phased two months earlier, just getting used to the new life and I hadn't been able to tell him or Jake, my best friends what was going on. Then Jake phased and Quil was left alone in the old life, without his two best friends.

So seeing me that day only made him mad, he shoved me away, he yelled about me betraying him and that's when he phased. His parents seeing everything as he ran to the woods, with me right on his tail. I grinned at the memory and Quil was grinning too, probably remembering the same thing. He really was my brother.

'I don't think I can fix it this time.'

He walked to me and clasped a palm on my shoulder.

'Then maybe it's time to let her in on the secret too right,…after this weekend.'

I nodded, 'yeah, maybe.'

I wished I could protect my mom, to protect her from having to know her son was a genetic freak. Quil laughed and I shook my head as we walked back in, he headed back to Claire, pulled her into his lap and kissed her cheek. I looked at them, he wanted to spend all the time he had before the fight with her. I got that.

I made my way to the spare bedroom and fell down on my back, grabbing my cell and dialling Leah. We hadn't talked really after the bonfire, but I wanted to hear her voice so bad now.

'What do you want Embry?'

I couldn't catch my breath hearing her warm husky voice. _Why was I so stupid, why had I denied liking her for so long? _

'Hi Lee'

'Hey…why are you calling?'

'I – I just wanted to hear your voice'

'Now you got what you wanted. Care to let me sleep?'

'Why are you so bitter Leah?' My anger was rising, I didn't need this. 'There is nothing wrong with wanting to hear your voice.'

'Of course, because we haven't been in each others heads constantly the last two weeks so you must really be missing my voice.'

'No I miss your touch.'

I said it before realising what I was saying, but I couldn't deny it. We hadn't talked about what happened after the bonfire and we were both great at concealing thoughts from the pack. So nobody knew.

'I'm sorry I should…'

'Shut up.'

_Did she just tell me to shut up?_ After that it went silent on both ends for a while, I wondered what she was thinking.

'Seth and mom aren't home. Can you come over?'

My jaw dropped and I set up quickly.

'You for real Leah?'

'Don't make me repeat myself Call, just get your ass over here.'

'Give me five minutes.'

She didn't have to tell me twice! I hung up the phone and jumped off the bed running in the living room. 'I'll be back later, gotta go do something.'

Quil smirked like he knew exactly what I was going to do. 'Have fun, brother,' he grinned and hugged Claire extra tight to him.

I laughed and ran out of the house, toward the Clearwaters. Toward Leah.


	7. Chapter 7 The Fight

**A/N Hey guys, real sorry for the delay in update, but I just got a new job and have tried to settled in there and everything…. Well you know the distractions that keep you from writing. But I'm busy busy (actually busy with another story too, blackwater lol), so updates are coming. I hope the Reviews will keep coming too! Much love**

**Chapter 7 – The Fight**

To my surprise I woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. But the body pressed to mine was very familiar; long raven black hair was fanned out over my chest, an arm draped across my stomach and a leg was between mine. Leah Clearwater was curled up next to me, holding onto me in her sleep. Her breath tickled my skin.

I looked at her face and it was completely relaxed, she looked peaceful, her lips curled up in a tiny smile as if she was happy to be here with me. She looked utterly beautiful. My heard swelled; I knew I loved her in that moment. Not just liked her or thought she was hot, but actually loved her with everything in my being. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and keep her safe, to protect her from everything, to love her for an eternity.

That's when I remembered it. Today was the fight. My heard stopped at the thought of Leah fighting with us. I couldn't bear the thought of her hurt… or worse. No pack had ever fought against so many vampires as we would face today. The pack had never been this big or had the help of a vampire coven before. Okay, but still. Honestly, we didn't know what to expect and there was a small hint of fear in all of us. We just prayed we would all make it out okay.

Leah stirred and I stiffened beneath her. My hand had subconsciously moved to her hair, my fingers twirling the strands around them and I let go quickly. She let out a small yawn and licked her lips, her arm stretching before she stiffened too, apparently slowly figuring out where she was. Her eyes fluttered open and she lifted her head, looking at my chest. Her eyes travelled slowly up my body and stopped when she met my eyes.

She didn't bolt like I expected her to. She just stared at me like she was trying to make sense of what was going on.

'Good morning'

She nodded and slowly sat up, moving the sheets and saw that we were both still very naked. She grabbed it and held it to her chest.

'Uhm. Morning'

She looked at me again, like she was trying to figure something out. Her brow set in a frown. We both opened our mouths to speak when we suddenly heard a howl coming from the woods.

It made me jump from the bed, grabbing my shorts and put them on fast. Leah jumped too, she grabbed some clothes and dressed quickly. I couldn't help but stare.

'Get that grin off your face,' she smirked when she said it, so I smiled wider at her.

She rolled her eyes and bolted out of the room, I was right on her tail. The Clearwater house was one of the biggest on the rez and was right at the beach, but far from the forest. So we ran inhumanly fast toward the shelter of the trees. Luckily it was still early and nobody else was around.

She grabbed my arm when we ran past the first of the trees and spun me around to her.

'I still don't want anybody to know.'

I nodded, knowing she wanted last night to be a secret and that was fine with me.

'I don't want you to fight today.' I told her, I couldn't stop myself, I had to tell her that.

'Too bad. I am!'

She gave me a look I didn't understand before she ran off to phase. I took off my shorts and bound them to my ankle, phasing quickly. Running to where I saw the pack was, I could see through their eyes. My mind flooded with information. Seth had already took off toward Bella's campsite on the mountain, he was not happy but he was on his way. Collin and Brady were with the rest, also not happy because they were staying in La Push when the fighting would start. They would protect the village.

Jake was still up the mountain, but before I could talk to him he phased back, disappearing out of the pack mind.

I heard Quil laugh in his mind, our mind. He quickly thought about asking me why I didn't come home last night before he focused on something else. Unfortunately Leah caught his thought, she wondered briefly if he knew but stopped thinking about it before anybody had a chance to even wonder what was up.

_Ah there the two of you are, no__w we are all here._

Sam was satisfied that we were all here.

_The Cullens are gathering in the clearing, we can't meet them or our scents will block theirs. We should get in position. _

_Yes, _we all thought at the same time

We all thought the same, the pack mind was ready, we were excited for the fight. Now that it was here we couldn't wait. It was our natural instinct, the need to protect the people, the need to take care of the threat.

We took off to where the future-seeing-vampire told us the leeches would separate and where we would ambush them. Brady and Collin walked back, moving closer to La Push. Seth reached the camp site and we could see Edward greeting him, but he couldn't see Jake or Bella.

We walked slowly, Jake phased back and joined the pack mind, he told us he was on his way…but that wasn't all. We could see images of him and Bella…kissing.

_Wow_

_Bro, what happened? _

_Ewwwwwww, the vampire girl? _

He replayed the whole thing with a satisfied feeling; Sam gave him his moment before he told us all to focus again. We all got caught up in the drama as Seth saw Bella and Edward reunite, Bella crying, Edward comforting her instead of being angry. Jake growled at the spectacle.

_Seth, leave them, we don't need this. We need to focus._

Sam ordered and we spread out making an open circle, ready for the leeches. Paul paced back and forth. Sam stood tall, Leah looked anxious. Jake sped up to be here on time and I sat down next to Quil.

"_When I'm human and I'm gonna be, I'm gonna tear it up like I did before, that's a royal guarantee."_

I looked at Quil with big eyes

_What the hell are you singing? _

He chuckled; _I watched 'the Princess and the Frog' like five times with Claire yesterday._

I nodded and grinned; _sounds like fun_

We could smell the Cullens coming into the clearing, it wouldn't be long now. Sam turned around.

_Paul, Leah come with me, we'll meet Jake and head off the ambush party_

They followed him quickly as he disappeared into the woods. We jumped up when we heard cries coming from the clearing.

_It's started_; we thought

We would stay put, they would come to us. We could see Sam run toward them.

_There is one!_

_He's seen me!_

_Don't let him warn the others!_

Leah growled and got him before he could even turn around, she tore his head from him and tossed it aside. Sam helped her by ripping off the arms. Burning it would have to wait.

_We can hear Emmett_

_He's enjoying himself!_

_Guys, the second group is following our scent, _it was Sam, we could see everything through his eyes.

_They aren't paying attention. They haven't heard us yet!_

_There is one! _

Jared growled as a lone newborn walked through the woods and saw him, Jared didn't think twice and he lunged at the vampire, grabbing onto his shoulder. Paul was closest, he ran through the rows of trees and jumped at Jared and the leech.

_Rip him, rip, rip, rip him apart_

I was crouched down, ready to get involved. Quil was crouching and growling beside me.

_Stay out of the way, separate them- don't let them protect each other's backs. _

_Finally!_

The leeches were here, Quil and I jumped up and each got one, grabbing their heads and tearing them from their bodies. The other leeches screamed and ran, we didn't wait, we ran after them.

_That's better, drive them toward the clearing._

We reacted perfectly, Quil and I cut off their paths when they wanted to run deeper in the forest. Jared and Paul came from the right and Jake from the left. We encircled them so the only option left was to run toward the clearing.

And they did.

The leeches hesitated for just a second and the pack mind was silent, waiting, until Jake growled, which woke them up and they took off running.

Snarls erupted from all of our chests and we went after them. We jumped out into the clearing, the sounds were strange and overwhelming. Of course we knew the sound of ripping up a leech, but now we heard stone hitting stone. It was the weirdest hard, shrieking sound. Like banshees. We didn't linger on the thought and Sam jumped and grabbed a leech that was going for the Doc. He nodded in thanks and helped by ripping an arm off.

Quil and I went for two that were coming straight at us, we didn't need the telepathy; we knew exactly what we were doing. This was the fun part. We dodged them, going left and right, crashing them into each other at the same time, it was like watching two stones crumble in a million pieces. We stood and watched the small pile of rock before the big leech, Emmett started laughing.

'Look at their faces!'

We looked at him with a big grin when a leech jumped on his back from out of nowhere. We snarled and ran towards him. The big leech may have been an enemy but today he was on our side.

Quil tore the leech from his back and the three of us tore him up. Emmett nodded.

'Not as stupid as you look.' He muttered before he took off again after another that was threatening his mate.

We looked around, but slowly things were settling down, the open space was filled with marble body parts and another leech was currently being torn up by Blondie and the Big Guy. The Doc and his mate were watching a kid, we didn't care. I grinned at Quil, thinking that all had happened far too easily.

_NO!_

Quil and I turned our backs to each other and growled, our eyes moving quickly over the clearing, searching for the threat.

But nothing happened, yet our mind was in panic.

_No…_

_What's going on? _

_What the hell?_

_Where is it? _

_Who's hurt? _

We cringed. We felt pain. Leah whined. The leeches around us looked at us, searching for the cause of the distress in the pack. We couldn't communicate with them without phasing back; we wouldn't do that.

Finally the pack mind calmed down and the questions stopped. We calmed down and could see what was happening. Jake cursed.

_Shouldn't have left__!_

_Shut up! _

_Seth…_

Seth was in trouble. The red head found Bella and Edward, and she wasn't alone.

A collective growl erupted from the pack. We weren't in the clearing anymore. We were watching through Seth's eyes and were all with him. We saw how Edward was talking to the new born leech, he wanted to turn him against the Red Head, make him see he didn't need to fight them.

We growled when the other leeched walked past where Seth was hiding, his back toward him. Collectively we encouraged our brother.

_Now! _

Seth lunged and Leah whined. I watched her and could feel her fear and concern for Seth. Her knees gave out and she let herself fall to the ground. The rest of us nodded in approval when Seth tore a piece of his arm off.

Leah was still on the ground in the middle of the clearing, and I slowly made my way to her. Quil, Jared and Paul all moved to her, showing unsaid support as we watched what happened up on the mountain.

The Cullens apparently decided that burning the newborns was more important, than trying to understand what was going on with the pack. They didn't see a threat. I could see them moving fast, starting a fire and the spread out all over the field, collecting various marble body parts. Sam and Jake helped, retrieving the pieces from the woods. Their minds were still with Seth.

Only the little future-seeing leech stood still. Her eyes sort of glazed over. I didn't pay attention to her, because up the mountain the leech had just jumped for Seth. Seth dodged him easily, getting the hell out of the way before turning around going at him.

The leech let himself fall back, his legs shooting out from under him toward Seth, and it had him flying through the air, he crashed into the rocks and landed on his side, whining softly.

We all growled and stomped our paws in frustration. One of us shouldn't fight alone. Sam and Jake both yelled.

_Stay down! _

Seth had stirred, convincing us and himself that he was okay and he tried to get up. But Sam and Jake were right.

_Make him think you are hurt_

_Let him think you'll be easy to take down. Don't move_

Sam's alpha command crept through his voice and Seth stayed put. Bella was talking to him quietly, urging him to get up. The distress in her voice helped Seth to convince the leech he was hurt.

Edward was fighting the Red Head, we could hear. The new born leech turned his back to Seth and jumped toward the fight, helping his mate.

Then everything happened at the same time. The Red Head and the new born leech overpowered Edward and were about to twist his neck when we smelled blood. The sharp salty scent invaded our nose.

_Leeches don't bleed! _

_No shit! _

Seth opened his eyes and saw the blood dripping down Bella's arm, he jumped up as the new born leech came flying. He jumped toward the leech and caught him mid-air before the newborn could get to Bella. Growling he bit him in the shoulder, slammed him against the rock. He tightened his grip on the leech and dragged him out of sight, away from Bella, the Red Head and Edward, who was yelling at her.

The new born leech was screaming for the Red Head too, he wanted her to help him but all her focus was with Edward. Seth's teeth left his shoulder and bore through his neck, silencing him effectively.

Growling, he started to rip the leech apart almost enjoying himself, we were all cheering him on.

_Ok guys, back to work_

Sam was resolute and we had to get up and go help the Cullens gather the pieces of leech to burn. Seth was busy and we were all still thinking off him and watching what was happening there, but there was no longer any danger as Edward dealt with the Red Head.

The fire was burning steadily, the smell absolutely horrible, but it was worth it. We had won, no one got killed, none even hurt. I grinned wide at Quil and Sam next to me and they grinned right back. We turned when Edward and Bella came back into the clearing with Seth, Quil and I ran toward Seth. Bumping our heads against his flank, congratulation him.

_Nice! _

_You got your own!_

_Told you that you'd get action _

We laughed.

Someone, one of us picked up a scent. Vampire. Non-Cullen. We were all suddenly aware, looking around when we heard Edward yell.

'Leah, behind you!'

Leah spun around and growled, gunning for the leech.

_LEAH NO__…_

**LoL – cliffhanger right. Who knows…I might change whatever happens, my FF after all. Thanks for reading. R&R **


	8. Chapter 8 The Shining

**heeey guys! Chapter 8! Thank you so much for the reviews and thanks to all of you who favored or subscribe to this! Awesome! **  
**I hope you will love this chapter, just a bit more insight into the main characters. Als immer please Review! Thank you :-) Now enjoy. **

**Chapter 8 - The Shining**

'Geez, Leah, that was really stupid.'

'Bite me.' She winced as I tied a knot in the improvised sling for her arm.

'Why did you do it? Tell me, did you at least want your moment of glory?' She tilted her head up to look at me.

'Yes, Call,' she sneered. 'That was it, I needed my fifteen minutes.'

She rolled her eyes and got up, walking outside. I followed her quickly and we both froze when we heard Jake screaming again. She shook her head and mumbled something like 'could have taken him.'

'No, you couldn't have.'

She turned to me. 'Shut up, Embry. You don't know that; Jake intervened before I even had a chance.'

'We all saw your chance, Leah. You were in trouble.'

She huffed and we both walked to Black's place in silence, wincing every time we heard another scream. When we got there, the entire pack was outside, standing there looking grim. Billy was in his wheelchair and he was obviously holding back tears; Emily was trying to sooth him by holding his shoulders.

'The doc is re-breaking his bones,' Quil muttered as soon as we got to the house. 'He healed too fast, the bones were set wrong.'

I shook my head at the thought; that was just horrible. Leah went to Jake's truck and sat on the hood. I leaned against the wall next to Quil, watching her go. Suddenly, Billy's old truck pulled up to the house, brakes screeching and Bella hopped out.

'How is – '

She got cut off by another scream and Quil informed Bella of what was happening; she started to pace slightly, looking worriedly at the house, when suddenly the leech doctor came out. His face was set grim as he addressed Billy.

'He's going to be fine now. I gave him morphine for the pain, but he'll burn it up fast. I'll come back to set up an IV.'

Billy held out his hand, and the Chief and the vampire shook hands. Now, that was history in the making. The doctor turned to Bella. 'He's asking for you.'

The entire pack rolled their eyes; we didn't like the way Jake was so hung up on Bella. I mean she was nice enough and all, even funny sometimes but no, she was too involved with the leeches to really be any good for him. We just hated the way he kept hurting over her.

Billy told us all to go home, to get a good nights sleep after the events of the day. We mumbled our 'good-lucks' and 'take-cares' to him before we slowly walked to our respective homes. I walked with Quil, guessing I still wouldn't be too welcome at home. I'd crash at his place just one more night; I'd deal with Mom in the morning. Maybe the guys had been right, and it was the time to tell her. But how could I do that do her?

We walked in silence to his house, just reliving everything that had happened... pondering, I think. Seth and Leah were walking in front of us and they weren't saying much either - Seth just kept kicking pebbles away while glancing at Leah.

When we got to the fork in the road where the Clearwater's would go right and Quil and I left, I was torn. A part of me wanted to go with them, wanted to take care of Seth, who was the little brother of the pack. I didn't wanna leave him with bad-mood-Leah tonight. Also, a part of me wanted to go with them to take care of Leah, to soothe her in her sleep. Apparently I wasn't the only one with these thoughts.

'Why don't we come with you guys?'

We all turned to Quil. 'What?'

'What?' he asked. Seth's face had lit up at the idea.

'Slumber party,' Quil muttered, giving me a look that said it all, said just how he knew I didn't wanna leave Leah. And that we both didn't wanna leave Seth after what he had to do today.

'I think it's a good idea.' As soon as I agreed with the plan Leah shot me the evil eye. Guessing, of course, that this was all about her.

'Can we Leah?' Seth looked up at his big sister hopefully, and she looked back, shrugging, before she stalked off in the direction of their home. Seth was beaming. 'This will be so much fun!'

Seth walked home between Quil and I; he started to name each of the DVD's he had at home, named Wii games and Xbox games. We just laughed and promised him to play with him - after the day we'd had, we wouldn't be getting much sleep anyway.

We walked in the house and Sue jumped up from the couch. She rushed over to Seth and Leah, pulling them both against her while she muttered prayers for the safe return of her kids. Then she rushed to us with the same gratitude and hugged both Quil and I. We couldn't help but smile and hug her back tightly. She may have been an elder of the tribe, but she was the coolest mom around.

'Billy called a while ago, he said you were on your way home.' She smiled at her kids and then at us. 'You two are more than welcome to stay, but call your parents first.'

I made a face that, apparently, she didn't appreciate.

'Yes, you too, Embry Call. Your mom may not know, but she still deserves to know where her son is.'

Quil just chuckled; he'd already started dialling.

'Mom, can we order some pizzas? I'm hungry.'

She ruffled his hair and told him to go ahead. Leah had already left the living room - she had gone upstairs as soon as Sue had released her from the hug. Sue winked at us and left the room too, probably going upstairs to talk to her.

Quil handed me the phone after he had called his mom. I dialled quickly, really not in the mood to have an angry mother on the phone. I prayed for voicemail.

And my prayers were answered, the familiar voice filling my ear.

'This is Lilly Call. We're not home right now, but please leave a message, and I'll call you back as soon as possible.'

'Hey Mom, it's me. I don't know if your not picking up or if you and Serena are out…..I'm really sorry okay. I really am and I'll tell you all about it later. But tonight I'm staying at the Clearwater's. We're just hanging out so don't worry, okay. Love you, bye.'

I quickly hung up the phone and joined the rest in the living room, Seth had already called for pizzas using his mom's cell and now he was picking out a movie. He decided on 'Gone in 60 Seconds'.

'A classic,' he said happily and we just flopped on the couch, totally exhausted after today.

A little later the doorbell rang as Sue and Leah came downstairs; Quil and I quickly moved to sit in front of the couch on the floor, letting the girls on the couch. We ate in silence, watching the movie; it was good. It felt like a big family and I was happy for it. Especially when Leah shifted behind me, her calf resting against my shoulder. She sighed softly, but I didn't know if it was because of the movie or something else.

Sue said her goodnights half way through the movie. We paused it and Seth and Quil cleaned up the living room as Sue made her way upstairs. I refilled the glasses, handing out the Coke to everybody. Seth restarted the movie and I settled back against the back of the couch; back against Leah's leg.

Quil was spread out on a recliner and Seth was on the couch next to Leah. Soon he was slumped over the arm rest, half asleep. My eyes were fluttering shut when I felt her fingers on the nape of my neck. They drifted through my hair, slowly drawing patterns on my skin. I looked back at her and grinned. She was leaning against the arm rest, her head on her arm, curled up in a ball except for her fingers that were slowly caressing my skin. She saw me looking and she smiled back, a finger moving over my jaw, before smoothing over my bottom lip.

We both jumped slightly as Seth coughed. I turned to look at him, while she tugged her hand under her head.

Seth was looking half asleep as he got off the couch and mumbled something about going to bed. He gave us a half hearted wave and headed upstairs. I let out a breath I was apparently holding. I saw Quil grinning at me, and I grinned back. He knew, of course, what was going on, having heard my conversation over the phone with Leah and I knew he was happy for it. But that was Quil; nothing could bring the guy down.

He laughed quietly and just laid back in the recliner, pretending to be asleep. Leah stayed still for a long time, until the movie was over. When it was done, I looked back at her.

'Want to watch another one?'

She nodded. 'Sure, not able to sleep anyways.'

I got up and walked to their DVD collection. I chuckled and put in 'The Shining'. Leah laughed quietly.

'Nice choice.'

I walked back to the couch grinning, and was going to sit down again when she stopped me. She sat up on the couch and took my hand, shaking her head. 'Come here.'

She moved, making room behind her on the couch. I was shocked but took the invitation greedily, laying on my side behind her carefully, just laying there, letting her make the decisions. But she kept surprising me. She scooted down the couch, so I could still see the TV, before she snuggled back against me.

Her back was flush against my chest and she let out a satisfied sigh. Meanwhile, I had to bite my lip from moaning, especially as she wiggled her ass against my groin, apparently trying to get closer. I took the liberty of wrapping an arm around her tiny frame, and she moved her hand over it, eventually lacing our fingers together.

We laid together for a while just like this, completely content, just watching the movie, hearing Quil snore away in the chair. The movie ended and Leah turned her face to me. 'Come upstairs with me?'

I nodded, and she got up, taking my hand. I followed her willingly, watching her hips sway as she walked up the stairs and to her bedroom. She opened her door and we walked inside, shutting it behind us. I stayed standing against the door as she walked to the bed, stripping her clothes off on the way. Letting them fall on the floor, she turned to me as she stood in front of her bed, in just her panties.

I couldn't help but growl, my knuckles going white I was holding the door knob so hard. She just smiled as I started to growl and she went and lay down in the bed, holding the covers up for me. My brain reset itself and suddenly I knew what to do again, quickly pushing my shorts down I walked to the bed, she moved over and I lay down. I pulled the blankets over us as she resumed the same position as she had on the couch. Only now her pantie-clad ass was brushing my massive hard on.

She felt it and chuckled softly, squeezing my hand. I dipped my head to the crook of her neck and kissed her skin softly. She smiled, which of course caused me to grin widely; Leah asked me to her bed, Leah wanted to snuggle with me. And Leah Clearwater didn't mind me kissing her neck softly. Hell…..could she actually be warming up to me?

'I thought one of us would die today…' Her voice was so soft I thought I'd misunderstood at first.

'We're all fine.'

She nodded. 'But when Seth…and you and Quil needed help from the leech.' She sighed and closed her eyes, I was too shocked. Leah Clearwater was opening up to me.

'Anyway, I was scared today.'

And it was over, she closed off again. I decided to say nothing, nothing good could come of it, so I kissed her neck again. I squeezed her hand softly with mine and just held her. Until we eventually fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning, in the same way as I woke up yesterday. I was flat on my back and Leah was over my chest. She looked to be smiling softly and I grinned wide at that. I stared at her for a couple minute before I started to feel the couple of cokes I had last night, so I gently untangled us and kissed her forehead while I slipped out of bed. Tugging on my shorts, I was amazed that she didn't wake up. Chuckling I left her room, making it just barely to the bathroom, sighing when I finally did. Figuring I'd get some coffee going before the rest woke up, I headed downstairs.

Getting to the living room, I was greeted by Quil's snores; the dude looked like he hadn't moved an inch since last night. I grinned and headed to the kitchen, already smelling coffee. I saw Sue sitting at the table, reading the morning newspaper. She looked up when she heard me, and smiled.

'Hey sweetheart.' She patted the chair next to her, so I walked over, kissed her cheek and sat down.

'Hey.'

She smiled warmly. 'Just a couple more minutes until the coffee is done.'

I nodded, rubbing my eyes as I leaned back in the chair. Sue continued to read her paper for a few minutes until the coffee was done. She closed and folded the paper before she got two mugs of coffee, handing me one with sugar.

'Thanks, Sue.' She smiled and sat down looking at me, her small hand curled around the cup.

'Leah told me about yesterday.' I almost choked on the coffee, looking at her with huge eyes. She laughed softly. 'About the fight, Embry.'

_Right, fight. Not me sleeping with Leah._

'Right, the fight. Yeah, it went well.'

'Yes,' Sue seemed lost in thought too. 'Leah told me you wrapped up her arm after she got attacked.'

I nodded, not really knowing what to say.

'And - I'm guessing here - you didn't sleep in the living room last night.' I shook my head now. She smiled and sipped her coffee, I mirrored her movements, hoping I wasn't in too much trouble.

'You'll be good for her.' Now that did make me choke on my coffee. I sprayed it all over the table, coughing, pounding my chest with my fist.

Sue laughed and got up, gently rubbing my back until I could breath again. Then she got a cloth and cleaned up the mess I made on the table.

'Sorry,' I muttered softly, glancing up at her, wondering what she was thinking.

She took my hand in hers, patting it softly. 'It's okay, really. The coffee and Leah.'

'It is?'

Sue nodded. 'It's been a long time since Leah has opened up to anybody, including me; but yesterday she told me all about the fight and I didn't even need to ask.'

I cocked a brow, really wondering what that had to do with anything.

'I'm not saying she'll change overnight, Embry. And you know my daughter - she's bitter and angry. But,…' She paused and I just stared at her.

'You'll be good for her. You're optimistic, her opposite in a way. You two can balance each other out.'

'We're not really dating…'

'I know, sweetheart. But you've had an impact on her already. And that's good to see.'

I nodded, sitting quietly, staring at my coffee. My mind was still on Leah; two mornings in a row now I'd woken up with her in my arms, her hair on my chest, her lips forming that little smile. I knew wanted more of that; I could only hope that she would want that too.

'I wanted to talk to you about something else.'

'Yeah?'

'Your mom, Embry.' I winced slightly. I hadn't seen or talked to her in two days now. Not after running out of the house the day before the fight. I sighed.

'We had a fight.'

Sue nodded. 'Quil mentioned something. Embry, I think you should tell her.'

I grumbled softly, still focussing on my coffee, purposely noticing how black is was; how it looked when I stirred it.

'I could be there, for you both. I know what it's like to have children that phased, it might help.' Sue was really cool. I nodded.

'Maybe... thank you though. But…' I frowned, looking up at her. 'How do you tell your mom that you're a genetic freak?'

She frowned at that. 'You're not a genetic freak. You were chosen to protect and serve your people. It's an honour, Embry.'

'I'm sorry Sue, but that is 'Elder BS'.'

She smiled at that. 'We do try to make sure you young wolves see it the way we do.'

'Yes, but to live like a wolf... it's so different.'

She nodded, sipping some more coffee. 'If your mom gets upset, you are always welcome to stay with us for a while, sweetheart. We have plenty of room.'

I perked up at this, sitting straight in my chair. 'Thanks, Sue!'

She patted my hand. I sighed and slumped back in my chair. We would tell my mom. Tell her what her son really is…

_**Aaaah will he really tell her? How will his mom react? What do you guys think? Tell me! I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter! **_


	9. Chapter 9 The Next Generation

**A/N Thank you guys for sticking with me. I love the pack, I love writing them although they don't always make it easy for me. So here we go, back to our favorite half-naked group of men.**

**Chapter 9 – The Next Generation**

We walked onto the beach. Leah, Sam, Jake and Quil were already there, standing next to each other, the two alpha's in the middle. Seth and I looked at each other, wondering what was up. Until I realized that this was the future counsel. Someday the elders in the counsel would retire and then these would take their places, Leah to fill the shoes of her dad and mom. Sam the Alpha, Jake the head of the counsel as the representative of the Black bloodline and Quil to take the place of his grandfather.

We grew quiet and walked slower toward them; they were still as well, just standing there. Waiting for us. The fire in the bonfire pit was already lit and the flames were flickering behind them. The sight was really impressive.

Leah was holding something in her hands and when we came closer we could see it was a book. In the light of the fire it looked old. We came to a stop in a semi-circle around them, watching and waiting.

'Generations of packs have preserved their stories.' Sam spoke up.

'Tonight it will be our turn.' Jake looked at everybody.

'We've already added all our names,' Quil spoke, while Leah opened up to book. The pages were yellowed with age. I recognized it now; it had been present at every bonfire when a new wolf was introduced to the pack. Billy or old Quil had been holding it but I never really paid any attention to it.

The pages were graced with artwork; there was the symbol of the tribe, the tattoo we all bore. Wolves had been drawn on the pages, in the corners, the middle looked like it was waiting for new words. The top of the page just said, 'The Next Generation'.

Below that, in order of phasing, our names graced the pages. I grinned wide reading over them. Sam, Jared, Paul and then me. Embry Call. I looked at Quil and he grinned back at me.

'Tonight we will tell the story of the fight with the new born army.' Leah continued. 'We will write about what happened so our stories may be remembered. So that our stories may be told to younger generations.'

We all sat down on the logs surrounding the fire, which was being kept small. Warm enough to warm us, although we didn't need it, small enough so we could all see Leah who was writing in the book and listen to Sam, who told the story as it was to be written down.

The mood lightened as he neared the end of the story, we clapped Seth's back when his victory was mentioned. The pack did quiet down when the story ended with a wounded Jake. But Jake was grinning, he was still wrapped up in bandages, and wincing slightly every time he moved. But he was there.

After the story had been written down, the book was passed around. Everybody got a chance to see the story that had been told, the illustrations that graced the pages. I grinned wide at it as I saw a drawing that had been made of a vampire and two wolves working together; I nudged Quil with my shoulder and showed him. It was a good drawing too, the colours were great and both me and Quil were easily recognisable. Even the leech, Emmett, I think, was very well drawn.

'Who do you think drew this?' I asked Quil as we examined the page together.

He shrugged and leaned closer to the page, tracing the picture of his wolf with a finger.

'Dunno, but it has to be someone close to the pack. It's amazing.'

'Leah did them.'

I looked up to hear Jacob speak. Then I looked at Leah who was poking the sand with a stick, watching the fire.

'You did them?'

She looked up at me, 'why so surprised?'

'I just didn't know you could draw like this.'

This time she shrugged and turned back to the fire, I handed the book to Quil who passed it to Seth. Seth stared at the pages for a long time, he grinned when he read about his own victory and the picture of his wolf next to it. He finally passed the book on to Jared next to him when he turned to me.

He almost lay across Quil's lap as he whispered.

'Leah is really good at arts, she draws and paints and everything. Even got a scholarship for it.'

Quil and I stared at him.

'Why didn't we know this,' I had to ask. 'How come she's not at college then?'

'She phased,' Seth shrugged. 'She phased and had to stay here with us.'

I looked at Leah who was still tending the fire, and I couldn't help wondering how much more she had to give up. Or what other things in her live weren't as she once thought they would be. Sam, the phasing and now the scholarship.

When the book returned to Sam, he put it in a quilt he had brought, it also had the native designs that were on the book. Then he put it in his bag and he stood up.

'Tonight we will run.' He announced in the voice of the alpha and I could see everybody straightening. 'We will run, not because we have to, but because we can. Tonight we celebrate the gifts of our ancestors.'

'And then we drink.' Jake laughed slightly, he looked sour, he couldn't phase yet. He hadn't healed completely, so he would stay here, to watch the book and the fire.

'Come.'

Sam stood up and we all followed the command, we stayed on the beach, we would phase here, in the open. Tonight we would not hide. Jake had walked toward the edge and gave the thumbs up, meaning that we were alone.

We took off our shorts, even Leah didn't care this time. We lifted our face up to the sky and howled like we were already wolves when we phased all together. I didn't know how we did it exactly. It was like we had already a pack mind, we just phased all at the same time. We took off. Over the beach and toward the forest. I loved it, the pack mind was happy and filled with relieve and joy, we ran just because we could.

We focussed on our muscles that felt powerful, on our paws that hit the forest floor, making it sound like a deep rumble, like the tribal drums. The wind through our fur, I grinned as Jared and Paul were bumping shoulders, laughing loudly in their minds. Sam was remembering the wolves that went before us. Leah was focussing on the wind. And Quil was humming those damn Disney songs again.

_Dude….you're going to get me traumatized, you know that right._

He laughed and snapped at my ear, so Seth tackled him and they were rolling over the ground. Slamming into a tree. We stopped so we could watch them, laughing loudly as Quil shook his head.

_Dizzy…_

Sam let us laugh for a bit before he took the lead again.

_To the cliffs guys. _

We jumped to our feet, or paws, again and ran as fast as we could. A little competition never hurt anybody after all. Leah was in the lead, Sam right on her tail and even little Seth was making her work for it.

When we got to the cliffs we stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the water in the moonlight, watching La Push beneath us. We even saw the bonfire on the beach glowing in the distance. I grinned wide; thoughts of my mom and the fight forgotten, just enjoying this moment with my brothers and sister.

Sam threw his head back and he howled. Like a real wolf he howled at the moon and it seemed only right. We all joined in, one at a time we lifted our muzzles to the moon and let out a loud howl.

It was our way of showing La Push that we were here, we were here and we always would be. Ready to protect and defend.

_Protect the tribe…._

_Protect the land…_

_Protect the people…_

We got back to the beach still being very happy, we phased back, put our short back on and laughed walking toward Jake. Only then did we see that he wasn't alone.

'Serena?'

She jumped when she heard me calling for her, standing up fidgeting with her fingers.

'Hi Embry.'

'What are you doing here?'

She blushed hard enough for us to see in the light of the fire, Jake stood up too and looked at us and then back to her.

'She saw.'

Sam stepped forward, his face set to thunder.

'You said it was all clear.' He looked at Jake, frowning so bad I'd thought his face would break from the strain he put on it.

'Oh! It's not his fault…Sir. Really. I climbed a tree you see,' Serena interrupted; she looked at Sam but quickly looked away when she saw his eyes. 'And then I fell out of it after….well after…'

'We turned into a bunch of wolves?' I tried to joke but only got glares from everybody.

'Yes!' Serena took a couple paces to me. 'So it's true?'

'I don't know…Are you high?'

'Embry! Of course not.'

I grinned, 'then it must be true.'

'Wow,' her eyes travelled over all of us, until they stopped just to the right of me, lingering. 'Weird.'

'Totally,' Seth breathed, he took two steps to her and held out his hand. 'Hi, Seth Clearwater.'

Serena smiled and blushed even harder. 'Serena Call.'

'Awesome.'

I wanted to smack Seth on the head at that point, what the heck was going on with the pup. But it was Leah who beat me too it. She walked past me and smacked the back of his head.

'Snap out of it!'

Seth blinked a couple times, looked quickly at Leah but his eyes shot back to Serena.

'Yeah,….I don't think that is gonna happen.' He was still holding Serena's hand; she was blushing but didn't try to take it back from him.

Now Leah her eyes shot back and forth between Seth and Serena as they stared into each other's eyes

'Ugh!' she left after that, walking to the other side of the fire and planted down on one of the logs.

Sam turned to me, 'Embry, your cousin, your responsibility.'

I couldn't do anything but nod and stare at Sam then back to Serena and Seth.

'Uhm, Sam. I don't think that you'll have to worry about her being an outsider who knows.'

I couldn't help but grin, it was all so obvious. Little Seth Clearwater just imprinted. Until it hit me. That was my cousin he was gawking at! My only and much younger cousin.

'Seth!' I put a hand on his shoulder and steered him away from her, pushing him down on a log too. Turning back to Serena, seeing that that only earned me a visit from the evil eye.

'Rude.' She hissed at moved passed me, making sure her shoulder collided with mine. And she sat down next to Seth.

Slowly everybody came back to the present as they still stared at the newcomer to the party but we all grabbed a beer and sat by the fire. I grabbed an extra one, handing it to Leah when I sat down beside her. She grumbled something in response but took it anyways.

We didn't say anything for a long time; most of us were quiet, just staring into the fire, looking at the flames licking the wood. Just being content to be there, being relaxed in this moment. The moment where it was just us, the pack, brothers and sister. No monsters, no leeches, no threats, no fear of keeping the secret. Well no, especially not that last one since my cousin had walked in on the whole phasing.

I wondered why she was here. Had she come looking for me? Had my mom send her? I didn't like the not knowing.

'Relax, Emb.'

Leah's breath was hot on my ear and my neck as she was leaning to me to whisper the words in my ear. I instantly let my shoulder drop, realizing only now that they had been tense.

'Your face looks like it's about to crack too.'

She laughed quietly and a hand moved over my lower back, sending goose bumps over my skin. I couldn't help but grin when her laugh sounded so deliciously in my ear and I felt my face relax too.

'Good puppy.'

I chuckled softly, looking around the fire before turning my face to hers, seeing that conversation was slowly starting everywhere and nobody was paying attention to us.

'Are you trying to seduce me, Leah?' Feeling her hand move over my ass, her fingers wiggling around the top of my shorts.

'Like you mind.'

She was right, I didn't. I had to even bite my lip to stop the groan that threatened to escape me. Her finger and hands felt so good. Her touch was caring, soothing but exciting at the same time.

I looked at her, wondering what it was. She released things in me, I wanted to protect her, keep her safe from everything. I wanted to hold her at night, I wanted to mate with her.

We just grinned at each other like two idiots, her eyes were moving over my face as she bit her lip. I couldn't hold back the soft growl that escaped me.

'I want you.'

I said it low enough so that only she would hear, my leg pressed against hers. Her heat sending shivers right to my cock, it was already twitching painfully against my khaki shorts. She rested her shoulder against mine, smiling as she drank her beer, teasing me.

I looked at the faces of my brothers, wondering if we could sneak off without getting caught. Seth was still staring into Serena's eyes and she was giving him the same dopey look. Holding hands their fingers laced, I couldn't believe it. Leah's brother, my pack brother and my cousin... This would get very interesting.

Jared and Paul were fidgeting. Seeming anxious they were talking in low rushed tones, they probably couldn't wait to get back to their girlfriends.

Leah turned to me, resting her chin on my shoulder as she whispered.

'I'll take Seth home, you take care of your cousin,' she moved her hand for an instant over my thigh, brushing her pinkie over the bulge in my shorts. 'Meet me back on third beach after that?'

I couldn't do anything but nod. My body wound tight wanting to push her backwards off the log into the sand, I couldn't care less about the fact that the whole pack was there. I wanted her. I wanted her here on the sand, to push her shirt up and take those perfect little breasts in my hands and my mouth.

She chuckled softly, probably knowing what was going through my mind, I turned to her grinning wide.

'Third beach.'

'Soon...' The word was only a breath leaving her mouth, she groaned softly.

She stood up fast, probably feeling the same way I did, I watched her as she walked toward Seth, pushing his shoulder.

'Come on.'

His eyes didn't even waver from Serena as he shook his head. 'Not yet.'

'We're going, you still have a curfew,' Leah growled. 'Imprinted or not.'

I decided to head over, tapping Serena on her shoulder.

'Time for us to go too.'

If looks could kill, Seth would have fried both me and his sister.

'Whoa brother, you'll get to see her again tomorrow.'

Leah rolled her eyes, I knew she always dreaded the day Seth would imprint. Her dad died, her mom was always over at Charlie's, Seth was really was the only one she completely trusted. The only one she dared to lean on. To open up to.

I sighed slightly, this was bad timing alright. 'Come on Serena.'

'Alright, alright! Geez.'

She looked confused at Leah, who was shooting her dirty looks, she smiled shyly at Seth and whispered to him.

'Hope to see you soon.'

He got up too, grinning. 'I'll come by tomorrow.'

She smiled; I took her arm and pulled her with me, yelling a 'good night' to the rest of the pack. They all bellowed back nights, we could hear their laughter as soon as we left the sand. It sounded like thunder the laughter was so loud.

She looked at me, before looking down, her hands twisting, fidgeting. I laughed softly at her unease.

'Relax.'

'I don't understand anything, Emb. Like nothing about this night made sense.'

She looked at me, her eyes wide.

'Not now Serena,' running my hand through my hair. 'Can we talk tomorrow, I'm real tired.'

'Okay, but we go and have breakfast!' She nudged me with her shoulder. 'And I want to know everything.'

**I hope you all enjoyed that, I knew I had fun writing it! So what do yall think? Serena and Seth...at the same time while Leah and Embry are getting together. How will Leah react to that one? Or Embry for that matter...Cute Little Seth, finally getting a girl of his own. Please Read and Review! **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N **

**To all those who read/reviewed/ favorite or put this story in story alert. Thank you. We absolutely appreciate the support you show by liking what we write.**

**Unfortunaly – as you all probably already noticed- updates have been lagging. This is due to the fact that I suffered a huge loss in my personal life. Someone dear to me has been ripped away and well, as you all can imagine I've not been the same since. **

**So for now, this story is on hold. At the moment it's too painful to continue. However I do hope to finish it in the near future. I hope you can understand. Thank you so much for your support. **


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